Jesus wanted to turn the world upside down and he calls us to do the same.  

We know this because of one of his favorite catchphrases that appears at least four different times in the New Testament: “The last will be first and the first will be last.”

In many different ways, Jesus said that humanity has it backward.  God doesn’t work from the top down but from the bottom up.  It is all about “the least of these, the forgotten, and the outcast.”  That is God’s starting place and if we want to commune with God, if we want to redeem creation and build a little bit more heaven-on-earth, we had better start there too.  

This is the reason for the strong social justice emphasis that is the hallmark of our United Church of Christ.  Like everything about Jesus’ message, however, there is a social and a personal level to his “last will be first” focus.  

The personal counterpart to this repeated saying might be “live from the inside out.”  Like the call for the church to pursue a ministry of social justice, this personal call of discipleship is no less challenging.

Whether we recognize it or not, most of us live our day-to-day lives from the outside in.  Our way is shaped by how we respond and react to what happens to us.  We, by and large, neglect our interior life that, ideally, evolves ever closer to God; independent of exterior events.

From the outside in.  Think about it.  We allow the influences that shape who we are—our personalities, our priorities, the way we encounter the world—to come from outside ourselves.  Advertisers, of course, count on this and are a perfect example.  Subtly and overtly, we are guided to desire a certain kind of lifestyle; one built around acquisition and accumulation.  Wants, needs, desires, and emotions of all kinds are to be satisfied from without not from within.  

In fact, we are encouraged to stay active, not to slow down, to work harder, and to keep the music turned up literally and figuratively in order to avoid the cultivation of an interior life.  

Why?  Well, to put it crassly, there is no profit to be made by satisfying one’s wants, needs, desires, and emotions by means of an internal, heart-felt relationship with God.  Plus, the benefits of living from the inside out come over time through divine dialog, struggle, rejoicing, confessing, questioning, and renewed attempts to live better.  Most people in our culture would rather settle for the quick serotonin high of a chocolate frosted donut or the temporary rush of buying a new pair of shoes.  

How do you start living from the inside out?  Begin by slowing down so you can notice your own motivations.  What is driving you to make the choices you are making?  To continue the donut example: are you really hungry or are you just stressed out?  Listen to your own self, your own heart.  Check-in with yourself enough to hear your own feelings.  

When you do, three things will happen.  First, you will get to know yourself—your strengths and your wounds—like never before.  Second, you will also come to realize that God is an integral part of who you are.  And third, you will also find greater fulfillment through conscious choice-making.

In the realm Jesus came to proclaim, the first will be last, inside is outside, and backward may, in fact, be forward!

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic